Clutch.



No. 721,964. 5 PATENTED MAR. 3,1 1903.

E. W. MILLER. I

CLUTCH.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 23, 1902. N0 MODEL.

i D f i 5 5' 5 N i 5 I I I I o hfargeys UNITED STATES PATENT" OFFICE.

EDWIN W. MILLER, OF OTTAWA, KANSAS.

CLUTCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 721,964, dated March3, 1903.

Application filed April 23, 1902. $erialNo.104=,353. (No model.) I

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWIN W. MILLER, a citizenrof the United States,residing at Ottawa, in the county of Franklin and State of Kansas, haveinvented a new and useful Clutch, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in clutches of that classemployed for connecting belt or toothed wheels to shafts in which thewheel and shaft will be disconnected when either is subjected toexcessive strain, and has for its principal object to provide animproved form of clutch which may be employed to secure a wheel of anycharacter to a supporting-shaft and which will be effective in eitherdirection of rotative movement.

With this and other objects in View the invention consists in the novelconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, illustratedin the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawings, Figurel is a side elevation of a driven wheel andshaft, illustrating the application thereto of a yielding clutchconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation ofthe same, partially in section, on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts throughout both figures of the drawings.

10 designates a suitable shaft on which is loosely mounted a drivenwheel 11, the latter being in the form of a belt, gear, or sprocketwheel adapted to receive or transmit power, the device being so arrangedthat either the shaft or the wheel may be the driven memher and therotation be in either direction, or it may be used to connect twoalining shafts. Secured to the shaft at one side of the wheel 11 is asmall wheel or disk 12, to which is pivoted a curved arm 14, the armbeing hung on a stud or bolt 15 at one end and at the opposite end beingprovided with an enlarged flattened head 16, from which projects a pin17, the latter fitting within one end of a coiled compression-spring 18.The opposite end of spring 18 bears against the face of an adjustablenut 19, mounted on a threaded stud 20, which is carried by a lug'rection of movement.

21, projecting laterally from one side of the wheel or disk 12, the nutbeing capable of adj ustment in order to increase or decrease the stressof the spring. The arm 14 is curved in form, its top or outer surfacebeing arranged in the arc of a circle equal to or less in diam eter thanthe diameter of the wheel 12, and at the highest point of the arc or atthat portion which projects the greatest distance from the periphery ofthe wheel 12 said arm is provided with a lug or boss 22 of triangularor-circular form, said lug or boss being adapted to make contact with anantifriction-roller23,mounted on astud 24, which is carried b one of thespokes or other portion of the riven wheel 11. The arched face of thearm 14 is so arranged as to presenta cam-like face for contact with theroller 23. This cam-like face is substantially the same on each side ofthe lug or boss 22, so that the roller 23 will engage the arm andthrough it transmit movement to the shaft. If the shaft is connected toa machine or mechanism of any kind likely to be subjected to suddenstrains, the roller will act to gradually depress the arm, causing thelatter to swing inwardly on its pivotpoint against the action of thecompressionspring 18, and if the load is excessive the shaft and thewheel 12 will remain stationary, while the antifriction-roller will rideentirely over the lug or boss 22, thus preventing the breaking of any ofthe portions of the machine or power-transmitting mechanism.

The device is so constructed that it may be employed for thetransmission of power from the wheel to the shaft, or vice versa, or maybe employed without any change in structure for connecting the twomembers in either di- The provision of the nut 19 enables the adjustmentof the device to any desired extent, so that it may be employed on bothheavy and light machinery without the necessity of making a separatedevice for each class of machinery.

While the construction herein described, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, is the preferred form of the device, it isobvious that various changes in the form, proportions, size, and minordetails of the structure may be made without departing from the spiritor sacrificing any of the ad vantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a device ofthe class specified, the combination with a shaft, of a pair of wheelsone of which is tight and the other loose on the shaft, anantifriction-roller carried by one of said wheels, and a spring-pressedarm connected to the second wheel, said arm having a curvedroller-engaging face projecting beyond the periphery of the wheel bywhich it is carried to permit the gradual compression of the spring atthe commencement of the clutching operation and being held in frictionalcontact with said roller by the spring.

2. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a shaft, ofa pair of wheels one of which is tight and the other loose on the shaft,an antifriction-roller carried by one of said wheels, and aspring-pressed arm pivotally connected to the second wheel, said armbeing provided with a projecting lug for engagement with saidantifriction-roller.

3. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a shaft, ofa wheel mounted loosely on the shaft, an antifriction-roller carried bysaid wheel, a second wheel secured to the shaft, a spring-pressed armpivoted to said second wheel, the outer surface of said arm beingarranged on a curved line and being provided with a roller-engaging lugor boss.

4. In a device of the class specified, the

combination with a shaft, of a wheel mounted loosely on the shaft, anantifriction-roller carried by said wheel, a second wheel secured to theshaft, an arm pivoted to said second wheel and provided with curvedfaces projecting beyond the periphery of the wheel for engagement withthe antifriction-roller in either direction of movement, a springnormally tending to hold the arm in roller-engaging position, and meansfor adjusting the stress of the spring.

5. In a device of the class specified, the combination with a shaft, ofa wheel mounted loosely thereon, an antifriction-roller carried by saidwheel, a second wheel 12 secured to the shaft, a stud projecting fromsaid second wheel, an arm pivotally mounted on said stud and having itscurved outer surface disposed partly in the arc of a circle having adiameter less than that of the said second wheel, and a roller-engaginglug or boss formed on said arm at that point where the latter projectsfor the greatest distance from the periphery of the wheel.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWIN W. MILLER.

Witnesses:

HENRIETTA E. GARDE, JAMES H. F. PRENTISS.

